(Redirected from Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg)
'Elizabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern', Queen of
Prussia (
November 8 1715,
Wolfenbüttel –
January 13 1797) was the daughter of
Ferdinand Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg.
On
June 12 1733 she married
Frederick II of Prussia and lived with him in
Neu-Ruppin and later in the castle at
Rheinsberg.
This was an involuntary
marriage, and did not result in children, as Frederick almost completely ignored Elizabeth. Directly following his father's death, Frederick initiated the break up between the two. Some sources (
Voltaire) lead one to believe that Frederick the Great was
homosexual. This however has never been proved and neither has the story ever been confirmed that the king was
impotent due to a
venereal disease, as was rumoured by his enemies. Nowadays it is considered more likely that Frederick was
asexual and just had no concern for dynastic obligations, as his succession was already secured by the offspring of his younger brother
August Wilhelm.
After Frederick became
King in
1740, Elisabeth lived apart from him in
Niederschönhausen Castle, north of
Berlin.